January 11, 2010

Mr. Gregory A. Shumpert

Shumpert Law Offices

302 West Nash Street

Terrell, Texas 75160

OR2010-00525

Dear Mr. Shumpert:

You ask whether certain information is subject to required public disclosure under the Public Information Act (the "Act"), chapter 552 of the Government Code. Your request was assigned ID# 371658.

The Terrell Police Department (the "department"), which you represent, received a request for information relating to a fatal traffic accident. You claim that the requested information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.108 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim and reviewed the information you submitted.

We first note that the submitted information includes crash reports that were completed pursuant to chapter 550 of the Transportation Code. See Transp. Code § 550.064 (officer's accident report). Section 550.065(b) of the Transportation Code states that except as provided by subsection (c), accident reports are privileged and confidential. ⁽¹⁾ See id. § 550.065(b). Section 550.065(c)(4) provides for the release of an accident report to a person who provides two of the following three items of information: (1) the date of the accident; (2) the name of any person involved in the accident; and (3) the specific location of the accident. See id. § 550.065(c)(4). Under this provision, the Texas Department of Transportation or another governmental entity is required to release a copy of an accident report to a person who provides the agency with two or more of the items of information specified by the statute. Id. In this instance, the requestor has provided the department with two of the three specified items of information. Therefore, the department must release the submitted crash reports and attached narrative in their entirety pursuant to section 550.065(c)(4) of the Transportation Code.

We next note that section 552.022 of the Government Code is applicable to some of the remaining information. Section 552.022(a)(17) provides for required public disclosure of "information that is also contained in a public court record," unless the information is expressly confidential under other law. Gov't Code § 552.022(a)(17). We have marked a court document that is subject to section 552.022(a)(17). Although you seek to withhold that document under section 552.108 of the Government Code, that section is a discretionary exception to disclosure that protects a governmental body's interests and may be waived. See id. § 552.007; Open Records Decision Nos. 665 at 2 n.5 (2000) (discretionary exceptions generally), 177 at 3 (1977) (statutory predecessor to Gov't Code § 552.108 subject to waiver). As such, section 552.108 is not other law that makes information expressly confidential for the purposes of section 552.022(a)(17). Therefore, the marked court document may not be withheld under section 552.108.

We note that the court document contains Texas license plate and vehicle identification numbers. Section 552.130 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure information relating to a motor vehicle title or registration issued by an agency of this state. ⁽²⁾ See Gov't Code § 552.130(a)(2). This section is a confidentiality provision for purposes of section 552.022(a)(17). The department must withhold the Texas license plate and vehicle identification numbers we have marked under section 552.130. ⁽³⁾ The rest of the information in the court document must be released pursuant to section 552.022(a)(17).

You claim that the remaining information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.108. Section 552.108(a)(1) excepts "[i]nformation held by a law enforcement agency or prosecutor that deals with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime . . . if . . . release of the information would interfere with the detection, investigation, or prosecution of crime[.]" Id. § 552.108(a)(1). A governmental body must reasonably explain how and why section 552.108 is applicable to the information at issue. See id. § 552.301(e)(1)(A); Ex parte Pruitt, 551 S.W.2d 706 (Tex. 1977). You state that release of the remaining information would interfere with a pending criminal case. Based on your representation, we conclude that section 552.108(a)(1) is generally applicable to the remaining information. See Houston Chronicle Publ'g Co. v. City of Houston, 531 S.W.2d 177 (Tex. Civ. App.--Houston [14th Dist.] 1975), writ ref'd n.r.e. per curiam, 536 S.W.2d 559 (Tex. 1976) (court delineates law enforcement interests that are present in active cases).

We note that section 552.108 does not except from disclosure "basic information about an arrested person, an arrest, or a crime." Gov't Code § 552.108(c). Section 552.108(c) refers to the basic front-page information held to be public in Houston Chronicle. See 531 S.W.2d at 186-88. The department must release basic information, including a detailed description of the offense, even if the information does not literally appear on the front page of an offense or arrest report. See Open Records Decision No. 127 at 3-4 (1976) (summarizing types of information deemed public by Houston Chronicle). The department may withhold the remaining information under section 552.108(a)(1).

In summary: (1) the department must release the crash reports and attached narrative pursuant to section 550.065(c)(4) of the Transportation Code; (3) except for the marked Texas license plate and vehicle identification numbers, which must be withheld under section 552.130 of the Government Code, the department must release the marked court document pursuant to section 552.022(a)(17) of the Government Code; and (3) the department may withhold the rest of the submitted information under section 552.108(a)(1) of the Government Code, except for the basic information that must be released under section 552.108(c).

This letter ruling is limited to the particular information at issue in this request and limited to the facts as presented to us; therefore, this ruling must not be relied upon as a previous determination regarding any other information or any other circumstances.

This ruling triggers important deadlines regarding the rights and responsibilities of the governmental body and of the requestor. For more information concerning those rights and responsibilities, please visit our website at http://www.oag.state.tx.us/open/index_orl.php, or call the Office of the Attorney General's Open Government Hotline, toll free, at (877) 673-6839. Questions concerning the allowable charges for providing public information under the Act must be directed to the Cost Rules Administrator of the Office of the Attorney General, toll free, at (888) 672-6787.

Sincerely,

James W. Morris, III

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

JWM/cc

Ref: ID# 371658

Enc: Submitted information

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Footnotes

1. Section 552.101of the Government Code excepts from public disclosure "information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision." Gov't Code § 552.101. This exception encompasses information that other statutes make confidential.

2. Unlike other exceptions to disclosure under the Act, this office will raise section 552.130 on behalf of a governmental body, as this exception is mandatory and may not be waived. See Gov't Code §§ 552.007, .352; Open Records Decision No. 674 at 3 n.4 (2001) (mandatory exceptions).

3. We note this office recently issued Open Records Decision No. 684 (2009), a previous determination to all governmental bodies authorizing them to withhold ten categories of information, including a Texas license plate number under section 552.130, without the necessity of requesting an attorney general decision.

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